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Hecht was appointed chief justice by Governor Rick Perry on September 10, 2013. He was re-elected on November 4, 2014, for a term that began on January 1, 2015, and will expire on December 31, 2020.[5][6][4][7]

In an email sent to Judgepedia from Hecht's campaign on September 27, 2012, Hecht is quoted saying,

“

This race is important to preserve experience and leadership on the Supreme Court of Texas. For 23 years, I have followed the law fairly and consistently and helped develop rules of practice and administration to reduce the expense and delay of going to court. I have also worked to obtain critical funding for legal services, trying to assure that Texas’ poorest citizens have access to the justice system. If elected, I will continue to work for more efficient courts and better access to justice.[15][16]

”

Education

Hecht received his B.A. in philosophy from Yale University and his law degree from Southern Methodist University School of Law.[17]

In the news

Miers controversy and aftermath

In May 2006, Justice Hecht was disciplined by the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct for improperly using his office and position to promote the interests of Harriet Miers' during the nomination. A three-judge panel exonerated Hecht of the charge on appeal. The New York Times reported that Justice Hecht assured the Arlington Group, a group of Christian Conservatives, of Harriet Miers' pro-life views. At the time, Miers was nominated to be an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.[18][19][20]

Refunding legal fees

In March 2007, Hecht said he asked Texas representative Tony Goolsby to propose a bill to force the state to reimburse him for $340,000 in legal fees.[21] Goolsby withdrew the bill after learning Hecht had already been reimbursed for the bill through "donations". Hecht defended his position by saying, “Here is the problem: If judges are sanctioned like this and it’s unjust and it’s wrong and they want to prove it, they can represent themselves or hire a lawyer that you can’t pay for on a judge’s salary.” Hecht earns $152,500 a year.[22]

Ethics violation

While working to remove the misconduct sanction imposed on him by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct (due to his support for Harriet Miers), Justice Hecht accrued a bill of $340,000. Ethics violations were charged against him for receiving a $100,000 discount on his legal fees which he never included in his campaign finance report. The law firm, Jackson Walker, appears frequently before the Texas Supreme Court. Moreover, these allegations extend to other Texas law firms as well who provided Hecht with $447,000 to cover his Miers bills as Hecht sided favorably with those firms he solicited and from where he received moneys.[23]

In January 2008, Texas Watch filed a complaint against Justice Hecht on the grounds that he illegally paid for personal travel with political donations; the watchdog organization cited a report from the Texas Ethic Commission that Justice Hecht spent $10,000 from his campaign to fund in-state flights. Even though Justice Hecht will not be up for re-election until 2012, Hecht defended his actions, saying the trips home were for campaigning purposes. Two other Texas Supreme Court justice are now under investigation for similar matters as well: Justice David Medina and Justice Paul Green.[24][25] Hecht was fined $29,000 after the commission found he committed ethics violations.

Appeal of ethics fine still pending

Hecht began appealing his $29,000 ethics fine in 2009. Texas law allows those charged with a violation by the Texas Ethics Commission to appeal their case to district court. Doing so essentially erases any findings made by the commission and the case starts over. Hecht's case is still pending.[26]

Political ideology

In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices in their paper, State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns. A score above 0 indicated a more conservative leaning ideology while scores below 0 are more liberal. Hecht received a Campaign finance score (CFscore) of 0.97, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This is more conservative than the average CF score of 0.91 that justices received in Texas. The study is based on data from campaign contributions by judges themselves, the partisan leaning of contributors to the judges or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study is not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic gauge of various factors.[27]